So, how bad has this winter been compared to "normal"? (Minneapolis: home, live in)

[fwsavemoney]

Although I am not in MN this winter, I follow the Updraft blog on MPR website regularly. The good news is that Dec and Jan have been much colder than average. Like golfgal mentioned, there is typically a week of extremely cold weather and not incessantly cold like this year. The bad news is that it is still only the 13th coldest yet. To me, it is not the severity of the cold that is the issue, it is the length of the winter. So last winter, even though it wasn't as cold, it went on till May. If this winter were to end early, I'll take this winter any day over last year's.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by fwsavemoney

Although I am not in MN this winter, I follow the Updraft blog on MPR website regularly. The good news is that Dec and Jan have been much colder than average. Like golfgal mentioned, there is typically a week of extremely cold weather and not incessantly cold like this year. The bad news is that it is still only the 13th coldest yet. To me, it is not the severity of the cold that is the issue, it is the length of the winter. So last winter, even though it wasn't as cold, it went on till May. If this winter were to end early, I'll take this winter any day over last year's.

I can agree with that...snow into May was NOT fun last year!

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

QueenBee is right that 1977, 78, 79, and 1984 were all as cold or colder, and the link you provided confirms that...

Originally Posted by golfgal

That's not what she said but whatever....

Actually, it is. Perhaps you'd like to read her post this time before you dismiss it.

Originally Posted by QueenBee

While this winter has seemed particularly brutal, winters have been trending milder than normal over the past 10+ years. I have read several articles which indicate that this winter is right on par with winters through the late 70s and 80s...

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

Actually, it is. Perhaps you'd like to read her post this time before you dismiss it.

4 winters in 40 + years..hardly "on par" with past winters...

[Ghengis]

better get those tomatoes in the ground, days start getting shorter in a little over 4 months

[QueenBee]

Originally Posted by golfgal

4 winters in 40 + years..hardly "on par" with past winters...

That isn't what I said. What I did say was that this winter was on par with winters through the late 70s and early 80s. "During" would have probably been a better word choice than "through," but my point is the same. This winter has been colder than recent winters have been, but not completely abnormal.

This winter has been horrible, brutally cold, and definitely colder average so far, but we have also had many warmer than average winters during the past decade or so (which can influence both memories and averages). I think more typical of MN winters is very snowy or very cold (not usually both) with shorter waves of cold, rather than these endless stretches of below zero temps. However, I also remember some really cold, horrible winters from my childhood which would have fallen during the time period I mentioned.

Paul Douglas wrote the following in his weather article in today's Star Tribune, "And yet the Minnesota Climate Office has put our pain into stark perspective. Assigning points for snowfall, snow depth and cold weather this winter ranks a 103, qualifying as "kind of miserable". Two years ago we had no winter (that was a 15). But heavy snow in 2011 made that winter a 161 (seriously miserable). Winters of the late 70s and early 80s were much worse, while 3 of the 5 easiest winters came since 1987."

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by QueenBee

"And yet the Minnesota Climate Office has put our pain into stark perspective. Assigning points for snowfall, snow depth and cold weather this winter ranks a 103, qualifying as "kind of miserable". Two years ago we had no winter (that was a 15). But heavy snow in 2011 made that winter a 161 (seriously miserable). Winters of the late 70s and early 80s were much worse, while 3 of the 5 easiest winters came since 1987."

Cool find! Of course, a "miserableness index" isn't terribly scientific, but I get the point. Personally, I'll take snow, snow and more snow! I love snow! What I hate is bitter cold and the short, dark days. I find this winter a heck of a lot worse than 2011, where we were buried in snow. The short, dark days however will be the same every winter unless the earth starts wobbling more.

[past50]

To me, this has been a brutally cold winter. When 20 degrees feels warm, you know it's been cold! I've lived here since 1990 and we had a couple nasty winters then ('95-'96 and '96-'97) with tons of snow and bitter cold. Most of the winters since 2000 haven't been bad, but it's interesting to me that 3 of the last 4 winters have been particularly harsh, and the year it wasn't (2011-12) there was very little snow or cold weather! '10-'11 featured the blizzard that collapsed the Metrodome roof and another 15"-20" on President's Day weekend. Last winter was normal until "spring" when March and April were the snowiest months! And the consistent, below-zero temps this season, since the first week of Dec. Odds are, it's got to change soon, heck, the amount of daylight increases 2-3 minutes a day now. As for heating costs, we've not had a monthly gas/electric bill over $300 ever. Natural gas prices are historically low, even with the recent increases. Per therm, gas is about half what it cost 10 years ago. That helps the budget. If you heat with something else, your cost is probably higher.

[Unsettomati]

Very cold compared to the past 15 years. However, there were a number of years in the 70s, 80s and into the 90s with winters which were as bad or worse.

Well, this is the number of sub-zero readings from the beginning of winter thru January 31:

http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/below_zero_through_jan31.htm

Have a look at January 1977 in Minneapolis:
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1977/1/2/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_s tatename=NA
January 8th thru 12th, lows of -22F, -31F, -22F, -27F, -25F (third-longest ever stretch of consecutive -20F days in the Cities). Then again the 15th thru 17th, -22F, -27F, -23F. Toss is another five double-digits below zero, and January 1977 blows this year's January away.
That same winter we had 23 consecutive 0 or below days (2nd longest stretch ever here).
Reference Temp and Precip Variations

During the winter of 1977-78 we dipped below freezing on December 18th and stayed that way 'round the clock until February 23rd, the longest stretch every here.

Reference Temp and Precip Variations

1978-79:
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1978/12/2/MonthlyHistory.html
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1979/1/2/MonthlyHistory.html
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1979/2/2/MonthlyHistory.html
22 total days with the low in the minus double-digits.

January 1982 was tons of fun - we hit -20F five times, with four fun-filled days of highs -14F or colder.
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1982/1/2/MonthlyHistory.html
February was ... well, we had those four consecutive days of -16F or colder.
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1982/2/2/MonthlyHistory.html

And December of 1983?
During a nine-day stretch culminating on Christmas, the warmest overnight low was -11F, and we hit -20F six times, with -29F on the 19th.
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1983/12/2/MonthlyHistory.html
The next month, January of 1984, was nice thought - it only hit -20F twice, and -10F another four times.

January 1994?
-13F or colder eleven times, with four days at -23F or colder (that -17F high on the 18th was a real peach!)
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1994/1/2/MonthlyHistory.html

Then, of course, 1996:
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1994/1/2/MonthlyHistory.html
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMSP/1996/2/2/MonthlyHistory.html
Six consecutive days of -20F or colder - again, Groundhog Day was a balmy -17F for a high, -29F overnight.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And what, in comparison to this year?

Oh, sure, January has been no fun. It has hit -20F twice, with minus double-digits fifteen times. No fun at all, I'll give you that. But it seems worse than it is in light of the past 15 years. Go back to the 20 years before that, and it really doesn't stand out amidst many of those Twin Cities winters between the mid-70s and the mid-90s.

[Yosh01]

I've lived in Minnesota for over 60 years and have taken the attitude that the cold really isn't that important to how harsh the winter seems. Once it's cold enough to generally force you inside, it really doesn't matter whether it's -10F or 20F. What does matter is the combination of cold/snow/ice that makes it difficult to get around in the city. Congestion and traffic have increased so much over the years that even a modest reduction in road conditions makes commuting and getting around unpleasant. In this regard, this winter has been particularly bad in my opinion. If I'm going out to dinner with friends, I don't care how cold it is, but I do care that we cancel because the roads are too slippery to bother.